BRAHM RISHI VAAGHA BHATTA OF KASHMIR, MAHABHARATA WAR AND NEEL-GATHA

                                                                        

BRAHM RISHI VAAGHA BHATTA OF KASHMIR, MAHABHARATA WAR AND NEEL-GATHA

(AI-generated photo of the coronation ceremony of Queen Yashovati by Sri Krishna. )

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Vaagahom, a village in Kashmir, is regarded as having originated from the ancient Vaaga Āshrama of Brahm-Rishi Vaagha Bhatta, who performed the Maha-Shraddha of thousands of innocents killed at the Kurukshetra in the battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. This is supported by a broader pattern observable in Kashmiri toponymy, where place-names such as Burzahom and Vāgahom preserve the suffix –hom, commonly understood as a contracted and fossilised form of the Sanskrit āśrama. In these contexts, āśrama refers not to an ordinary domestic dwelling but to an ascetic, ritual, or hermitage-based settlement. The emergence of –hom can be explained through regular phonological processes characteristic of Kashmiri linguistic evolution, particularly in place-names. These include the loss of the initial vowel ā-, the weakening or transformation of the consonantal cluster śr, and the reduction of the terminal –ram, often accompanied by nasalisation. Through successive stages of simplification—āśram → ahram → hram → hom—the original term becomes compressed into a stable toponymic suffix. Such reduced and fossilised forms are a recurring feature of Kashmiri geographical nomenclature and preserve linguistic evidence of early sacred or monastic landscapes embedded within the region’s modern settlements.

As per some Sanskrit texts, Puranas, and the Neel-Gatha, it was Sri Krishna who asked Bhima to go to Satidesa ( Kashmir ) and bring Vaagh Bhatta for the Maha-Shraddha of innocents killed in the war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Sri Krishna desired to ensure Sadgati and Moksha for all these innocent souls. Queen Yashovati of Kashmir accompanied Bhima and requested Brahm Rishi Vaagh Bhatta for this Maha Shraddha. Queen Yashovati ( Widow of King Damodara of Kashmir ) was coronated by Sri Krishna in Kashmir. AgniShekhar's Neel-Gatha has at least 5 poems on the subject. Ancient Sanskrit texts say that Queen Yashhovati was pregnant at the time of her coronation. A poem from Neel-Gatha translated into English by Avtar Mota goes as follows:-

(22)

Sri Krishna put the crown on Yashovati’s head.

And in every direction,

Euphoric shouts resounded.

Flowers rained, and the sacred chants filled the air.

Yashovati’s head was adorned by the royal attendants with golden necklaces.

Music delighted everyone in the assembly,

Anklets jingled as dancers twirled,

And then suddenly,

Yashovati felt a little stir in her womb.

She turned alert with this sudden movement;

“Was it joy, the child’s gentle move,

Or anger at my choice?”

Her thoughts drifted to her husband’s dream,

And the slaying of her father-in-law Gonanda,

And of her husband too,

A silent fissure opened again somewhere deep in her heart.""

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

SUGGI : AN AMAZING CHARACTER CREATED BY PADMA SACHDEV

                                             

SUGGI IS OBSTINATE, TRADITION BOUND, DOMINATING, YET FULL OF AFFECTION AND EMPATHY 

Using Suggi ( a widow from a family of barbers to Dogra Maharajas ) as protagonist, Padma  Sachdev takes the reader on a trip through Jammu city right from her childhood days till sometime around 1994-95. In this journey, one visits Panjtirthi locality, where Padma spent her childhood after her family shifted from Purmandal. The reader comes across the steep foot paths (Dakkis) leading to the River Tawi. These paths would come live everyday early in the pre-dawn darkness as men and women went to the River Tawi for bathing. The reader visits the narrow lanes and clean mud houses with courtyards that were made dirt-free using cow dung spread. Wonderfully descriptive scenes have been created around Suggi’s house; tinkling of bells at the  Mahalakshmi Temple of Pucca Danga, Jangam Babas at Peer Kho Temple on the Tawi bank, Daunthali Bazaar, Purani Mandi, Kachi Chhawani, Maniyaari shops, warm kitchens with timber burnt for cooking food, the smoked utensils, Chapatis, Daal, Karhi Chaawal, Kachaalu, home made mango pickle, morning Desi tea with sugar and a pinch of salt, Khameer, eating juicy Kimb( citrus fruit ), elders with Hookah, Pateesa, Darbar Move, walnut tree bark used as Daatun and many more easily identifiable lifestyle images of Jammu city’s past.

 Every morning, the Gujjar women (with heavy silver anklets), living in hills adjoining the city, walk through steep paths (Dakkis in local parlance) to bring milk to the city. They sit and gossip in a confident and carefree manner with the Shah (shopkeeper). This scene is almost extinct now as milk is ferried to the city by male Gujjars in motor vehicles through roads that connect their houses with Jammu city. As you move through the pages, you find women in tight Churridaar Pyjamas (Suthhan) singing: ……..

‘Pal pal beyi jaana ho jindhe

Raati reyi jaana ho Jindhe’

(Love sit for a while over here too

Love stay for a night over here too.

Women prefer to sit in groups after they finish their work. While sitting, each woman is busy with some kind of work that could be knitting or needlework. Away from their mothers-in-law, young women giggle when a married girl joins to say:

“Breikurr gilli bii balley

Sas gareeban be larre “

(The Breikurr shrub burns even if it is wet,

And the mother-in-law quarrels even if she is poor.

After they finish the kitchen work, women busy themselves with the Charkha and keep singing in a low tone …

“Ladli na rakh baawala

Teri ladali de din thoday

Laadli me Iyaan rakhii ye

Jiyaan kaagdhe de vich sunna”

(Father, don’t pamper your daughter

She has a brief stay at your house 

“I have kept my darling daughter

Like we keep precious gold inside paper.)

“Chambe diye daahladiye moiye bindh duaas ni ho

Kal unney aayii ponaa khirri khirri banii banii po”

(O You like a branch laden with Champa flowers, do not turn to sorrow,

Dress up and sit like a blooming flower, tomorrow he shall be arriving.)

Suggi is a witness to the painful events of 1947 and the arrival of refugees from Mirpur, Rajouri, Bhimber and other adjoining areas to Jammu city. Her memory is stored with many tragic events of 1947, when man turned beast. She also narrates with pride as to how some people still retained sanity when people behaved as lunatics. For her, Pakistan was created out of pain and suffering resulting from the killing of many innocent people across both sides of the border. She misses Sialkot, where some of her childhood friends and neighbours migrated. She is sympathetic to refugees who arrived from POK and also misses her Muslim neighbours who left for Pakistan. Unfortunately, Padma Sachdev also lost her father, Sanskrit scholar Professor Jai Dev Baru, in the communal frenzy of 1947.

Once   Suggi goes to the official residence of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad in Jammu, as she is thrown out of her custodian accommodation by some government officials. She motivates Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad to come to her house in a jeep and make a spot decision. While Bakshi drives the jeep personally, Suggi sits in the front seat smilingly. To the surprise of her foes, Bakshi does justice in his own style to poor Suggi. He allots another custodian house to her during this visit. People gather to see the Prime Minister coming to meet a poor, destitute woman. While Bakshi delivers justice, a person amongst the onlookers keeps singing:

“Bhaley bhaley ki sidhaa kardaa

Aey bakshi da dandaa “

“Who is there who has not been set right?

By Bakshi‘s handheld stick? “

Other characters of this novel that are worth mentioning are Nainto, Raano, Pant Ji, Soma Panditaayan, Sainti, Laajo and Shardul Singh ( servant from the Wazir family ). Shardul Singh is a liquor addict. Shardul Singh’s Sahib from the Wazir family is fond of Kalaaris made from milk, and he prefers to have them with his daily quota of liquor. With the Wazir family, Suggi goes on a pilgrimage to the Pashupati Nath Temple of Nepal.

Soma Panditaayan is her childhood friend. Her husband, Pandt Dev Datt, is a respected Brahmin who is always busy performing marriages, Mundans, Yagneopavit functions, Shradaas and other religious rituals for various families in Jammu city. Soma fondly calls him Pant Ji (Pandit Ji). Pant Ji never misses his early morning bath, even during the intense winter season, when he uses a Kangri to warm up his body. Without fail, Pant ji does his morning Thakurdwara (Pooja room or Thokur Kuth in Kashmiri) Pooja before starting his daily routine work. He must also have his glass of milk every day after his Thakurdwara Pooja. Soma puts three or four water-soaked almond kernels in this milk. Pandit Dev Datt is a Shaivite who worships Parthav Shiva with milk, water and Bheil p’atar. The husband and wife live a happy and contented life. Suggi is a frequent visitor to Pandit Dev Datt's house.

And then Suggi remembers how she would join Bhaakkaan singers from the adjoining hills of Jammu city who flocked to Amar Palace on Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday. These women would squat in groups in the outer lawns for their day-long singing of Pahari songs. Gifts and food would be distributed to them by the members of the royal family. They sang many songs, like:

“Chan maahrra chadeyaa te pahaada aahli kingri

Sajne ki pyaar dena nath karey khingri

Milnaa zaroor meri jaan ho”

(My Moon-faced beloved has gone up a mountain top,

Keeping my nose ring aside,

I shall offer him my love

My love! I shall meet you for sure. )

How painful for Suggi to know that Maharaja was an exile who lived in Mumbai with his ADC, Capt Diwan singh and some trusted servants. The royal status ofthe Wazir and Katoch families of Jammu had also declined with the departure of Maharaja Hari Singh. Some person makes her believe that even during Maharaja’s rule, Dogras were poor and unemployed, as Maharaja Partap Singh and even Maharaja Hari Singh preferred outsiders to fill various posts in the administration. A woman quotes poet Dinu Bhai Pant to support this point of view.

“Lok mheene maardhey dogre da raaj ho

Dogre da bhaag dikho jurrdaa ni saag ho”

(People comment satirically that the Dogras rule the state

And look how unlucky Dogras can’t even afford green vegetables.

And Jammu kept changing. People who were satisfied with Daal, Chappati, Achaar, Lassi, Madra, Kachori, Annardaana, Rajmaah shifted to cold drinks, Lipton Tea, Chicken, Ice creams, sweets, kitty parties and LPG cylinders in their kitchens. With development and newer employment avenues, people from many towns start pouring in and settling in Jammu city. Jammu gets ample connectivity and expands in all directions. With new concrete residential buildings, newer colonies and people pouring in regularly, the city feels pressure on its resources. Suggi is privy to these rapid changes.

And then in 1990, Suggi witnessed once more something like the 1947 events. Terrorised by the armed militants, Kashmiri Pandits run for safety and arrive in Jammu city. They take shelter in temples, vacant semi-finished buildings, tents and anywhere and everywhere they find a cover for their hapless families. Young children, women and elders crowd in a single room, face many odds, and to survive, men from the community take up any offer of employment that comes their way. They live in hell but keep dreaming of the heaven they left behind.

The protagonist of the novel is amazed at the resilience of this community and feels that no curse is bigger than leaving one’s motherland.

Suggi tells Soma Panditayan:

“Look, Soma, women may pass time in banishment as they get busy with other household affairs, but men suffer too much while living in exile. These Pandits used to spread education all over. Now look at how these poor fellows do all types of odd jobs. I curse this government. Bring two families over here. Those two rooms have been locked since long time in our locality. I shall break open the locks. Let the two Pandit families stay over here . Bring Sarvanand Koul’s family here. If nothing is possible, I shall share one room in this custodian's house with that family. One room is sufficient for me.”

Unable to come to terms with rapid changes taking place around her, just before her death, Suggi tells Rano:

“This city does not reflect the Dogra culture anymore. People neither speak the Dogri language nor eat Dogra food. No one dresses like a Dogra anymore. The potter who made Suraahi-type pitchers is dead.No women wears a Suthan (a long but tight salwar worn by ladies). When parents do not speak Dogri, how can children speak Rano Ji? Dogras think that they have come from England. They feel proud in teaching English to their children as a language of communication within their families and homes.”

On her deathbed, Suggi tells Parsino, her daughter-in-law:

“Look, Parsino, this River Tawi is more sacred than Ganga or Yamuna. Let me have a bath in Tawi before I die. Can't Nathi (Parsino’s husband) carry me on his back? I want to see the hills of Mata Vaishno Devi. I shall send my Pranaams to Mata Rani. Parsino, listen carefully, Soma is my childhood friend. Respect her in my absence. During my death rituals, ensure that all women wear the Dogra dress. You should wear a Suthan. I shall be watching everything from the sky over your head. I may become a ghost if you do not act on my words.”

And inspite of her love for the Dogra culture and language, Suggi is open towards accepting changes that are sweeping her Jammu. In fact, she has learnt and adopted many things after her personal interaction with Punjabis, Mirpuris and Kashmiris living in Jammu city. She likes Kashmiri Kahwa tea and crisp Baakir-khaanis. She has a Kashmiri Raffal Dussa that she uses sparingly.

And Suggi watches as  Jammu finally turns into a crucible of many cultures and civilisations.

(Avtar Mota)

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CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

USING PHOTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC DOMAIN

                                         

 

Logos, Watermarks, and Ownership:  Using Photographs Taken by Others

Of late, one frequently encounters individuals and pages on social media platforms placing their own logos and watermarks on photographs captured by others. This practice has become so widespread that it is often treated as routine. Yet it carries serious legal and ethical risks. Recent court decisions in the United States have reaffirmed that a photograph is a work of art for the purposes of copyright law, and that unauthorised branding, watermarking, or alteration of such works may attract penalties. These rulings serve as an important reminder: anyone handling photographs must exercise caution, as seemingly casual acts can lead to unpleasant legal consequences.

This growing trend, combined with limited public understanding of copyright principles, has created an environment in which misuse of photographs is common and accountability is often overlooked.

A Personal Encounter That Revealed a Larger Issue

While working on my book, I approached a close friend: the son of a reputed photographer, to seek permission to use one of his father’s photographs taken sometime in 1965. The image was historically significant and directly relevant to the subject of my research. Given our friendship and the academic nature of the work, I assumed the request would be a formality. It was not. My friend declined politely but firmly. He explained that the photograph remained the property of his father’s estate and that permission could not be granted. What followed was more revealing than the refusal itself. He shared a longstanding concern: many individuals had been circulating his father’s photographs online with their own logos, page names, or watermarks, often without permission and sometimes without credit. In several cases, the original attribution had been entirely removed. That conversation highlighted an issue far broader than one denied request: it reflected a systemic misunderstanding of photographic ownership.

The Persistent Myth That Old Photographs Are “Free”

There is a widespread belief that old photographs automatically become public property. Images documenting history, public life, or taken decades ago are often assumed to be free for use, particularly when the photographer is no longer alive. This belief is incorrect. Under copyright law, a photograph is protected from the moment it is created. The photographer is the author and original owner of that work unless ownership has been lawfully transferred through a contract, assignment, or work-for-hire arrangement. When the photographer dies, those rights generally pass to heirs or a legal estate and continue for many decades, depending on the jurisdiction. Neither age nor historical importance extinguishes authorship.

Photography as Artistic and Intellectual Property

Photography is not a mere mechanical process. It involves creative judgment in framing, lighting, timing, composition, and perspective. Courts across jurisdictions have consistently recognized photography as artistic expression and intellectual property. For the purposes of copyright, photography stands alongside painting, writing, music, and sculpture. Legal protection extends not only to commercial exploitation but to creative authorship itself. Accordingly, unauthorized alteration or branding of photographs interferes with legally protected artistic work.

Clarifying Roles: Owner and Handler

For public understanding, it is helpful to clearly distinguish between two roles: the owner and the handler. The photographer is the original author and copyright owner of a photograph from the moment of creation, unless those rights have been lawfully transferred. After the photographer’s death, copyright typically vests in their heirs or estate. All others who later use, manage, edit, archive, upload, publish, restore, or circulate the photograph fall within the category of handlers. This includes editors, publishers, archivists, page administrators, cultural platforms, social-media managers, and researchers. A handler does not acquire ownership merely by access, possession, or use. Importantly, a handler has no legal right to place a logo, watermark, brand mark, signature, or identifying insignia on a photograph unless expressly permitted by the copyright owner through a valid license or written consent. In the absence of any such permission, any addition may constitute unauthorised modification of a copyrighted work and may expose the handler to legal liability.

The Emotional Reality Behind Ownership

For families of photographers, photographs are not just images; they are legacies. Many photographers invested years of work, often under difficult or dangerous conditions, to document culture, society, and history. When their images circulate under another name or logo, it feels like an erasure of both creative labour and personal history. The frustration expressed by my friend arose from repeatedly seeing his father’s work detached from its source and misrepresented as belonging to others. This human dimension is often overlooked in online discussions about image sharing.

Social Media and the Illusion of Consent

Social media has dramatically accelerated the circulation of images. A photograph posted once can be downloaded, reposted, edited, and rebranded within minutes, often losing attribution at the first step. This speed has created a dangerous illusion: visibility is mistaken for permission. The reality is simple. Uploading a photograph to social media does not place it in the public domain. Platforms do not transfer ownership rights to users. Sharing does not extinguish copyright.

Logos and Watermarks: A High-Risk Practice

Placing a personal or organisational watermark on a photograph taken by someone else is one of the most legally hazardous practices in digital media. Copyright law reserves the exclusive right to create derivative works to the copyright owner. Unauthorised branding or watermarking may qualify as such a derivative work. Courts have, in appropriate cases, treated this conduct as infringement and imposed penalties. Even where no commercial intent exists, the act itself can still carry legal consequences.

Ethical Harm Beyond Legal Risk

Beyond legality lies ethics. A watermark signals authorship. When that signal is false, it misleads audiences and undermines trust. In cultural and historical contexts, this misrepresentation is particularly damaging. Once falsely branded images circulate widely, correcting attribution becomes difficult, and original creators gradually disappear from public memory.

Editing and Restoration Do Not Create Ownership

Some handlers argue that editing, colourisation, or restoration grants them ownership rights. This is a misunderstanding. Editing does not negate the original copyright. The underlying photograph remains protected. Without permission, even significantly altered images may still infringe the original work. Transformation is not ownership.

Why Permission Matters

The refusal I encountered while working on my book was not unreasonable. Historical importance and scholarly intent do not override ownership. Exceptions such as fair use are limited and context-specific. Seeking permission is not a mere courtesy; it is a recognition of creative rights.

Public Domain: A Narrow Legal Category

Some photographs are free to use, such as those whose copyrights have expired, those explicitly released into the public domain, or certain government images. However, these categories are narrower than commonly assumed. Public domain status must be verified, not presumed.

Conclusiuon

To avoid legal and ethical pitfalls, handlers need to observe a few basic principles:

• Use only photographs you have created, licensed, or received explicit permission to use
• Do not add logos or watermarks to images you do not own
• Preserve original attribution wherever possible
• Verify public-domain claims carefully
• When in doubt, refrain from use

The growing misuse of photographs reflects a deeper issue: convenience has overtaken respect. Courts have reaffirmed what copyright law has long recognised—photography is art, and artists retain rights. Preserving history requires preserving authorship. Respecting ownership, permission, and attribution is not optional; it is essential to ethical and lawful engagement in the digital age.

 

(Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

IS THE UNIVERSE REALLY INDIFFERENT?

                                                                               

IS THE UNIVERSE REALLY INDIFFERENT?

The idea of nothingness and cosmic indifference suggests that the universe operates without personal concern for human aspirations, encouraging reflection on our place within an immense and impersonal order. Both existential thought and insights from ancient Indian texts acknowledge that the cosmos does not revolve around individual desires, yet this absence of preference does not imply meaninglessness. Texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads describe a vast, cyclical universe governed by law rather than emotion, where human life is brief but significant through action and awareness. The immensity of time and space reminds us that existence is transient, but it also invites responsibility rather than despair. We move through a reality that neither condemns nor consoles us, compelling us to create meaning through duty, reflection, and conscious choice. This understanding reframes cosmic indifference as a neutral ground upon which human purpose is shaped, rather than denied.

 To say that the universe is indifferent does not mean that it is unkind, hostile, or deliberately unjust. Indifference is not malice. Rather, it names something quieter and more unsettling: the universe does not recognise us in the way we recognise one another. It does not attend to individual hopes, moral effort, suffering, or innocence. Earthquakes do not discriminate between saints and sinners; diseases do not spare children; accidents do not consult merit before striking. Events unfold according to impersonal processes, without regard for human meaning.

This idea unsettles us because human beings are moral and relational creatures. We expect concern, fairness, or at least explanation, especially when suffering appears undeserved. When these expectations meet the silence of the world, the gap feels intolerable. The claim that the universe is indifferent emerges precisely from this gap between what we feel ought to matter and what the universe appears to acknowledge.

Importantly, this perception does not arise solely from pessimism. It arises from honest attention to reality as it presents itself. Natural laws operate without intention. Stars explode, species vanish, and individual lives end without ceremony or justification. The universe neither rewards virtue nor punishes brutality. It neither consoles nor condemns. It simply unfolds. That absence of concern is what indifference means.

Albert Camus articulated this condition with unforgettable clarity. For Camus, the human being is a meaning-seeking creature trapped in a world that offers no answers. He called this confrontation the absurd; the clash between our longing for meaning, justice, and clarity and “the unreasonable silence of the world”. When tragedy strikes, the universe does not explain itself. It does not justify suffering or promise redemption. Camus rejected both religious consolation and nihilistic despair. His response was revolt: a lucid refusal to lie to ourselves, paired with a stubborn affirmation of life and human solidarity despite cosmic indifference.

Jean-Paul Sartre pushed this insight in a more radical direction. If the universe is indifferent, Sartre argued, then it provides no predefined meaning, essence, or moral script. Human beings are “condemned to be free”. There is no God or cosmic order to tell us what we are; existence comes first, and essence must be created through action. This radical freedom is not comforting. It is anguishing. In an indifferent universe, every choice rests entirely on our shoulders. Yet Sartre insists that this very absence of cosmic concern is what makes human responsibility absolute. If the universe will not care for us, then we must care for ourselves and for others.

Arthur Schopenhauer, writing a century earlier, reached a darker conclusion through metaphysics rather than existential ethics. For him, the ultimate reality beneath appearances is the Will, a blind, restless striving that manifests as nature, desire, and life itself. Individuals are fleeting expressions of this Will and have no privileged metaphysical status. Suffering is not an anomaly but the normal condition of existence. The universe is indifferent because it is not guided by reason, compassion, or moral purpose, but by endless, unsatisfied striving.

Soren Kierkegaard accepted much of this diagnosis but refused to let it be the final word. He agreed that the objective universe offers no secure meaning for the individual. Science explains how things happen, not why they should matter. Ethical systems cannot guarantee harmony between virtue and happiness. This leaves the individual exposed to anxiety and despair. Yet for Kierkegaard, this exposure is precisely where authentic existence begins. Meaning is not discovered in the universe but forged inwardly through a passionate relationship with God, achieved by a leap of faith. The universe’s silence becomes the stage on which faith acquires its urgency.

Eastern philosophies approach cosmic indifference by questioning the assumptions that make it so painful. Buddhism begins with the recognition of Dukkha (suffering ), the pervasive unsatisfactoriness of existence. But suffering, in Buddhism, does not point to a cruel or neglectful universe. Reality operates through dependent origination: causes and conditions give rise to effects without intention or moral judgement. There is no cosmic agent who cares or neglects. Suffering intensifies when we cling to permanence in a world defined by impermanence. Nagarjuna, one of Buddhism’s most profound philosophers, radicalised this insight through the doctrine of emptiness (Shunyata). He argued that all phenomena, including the self, lack inherent, independent existence. The question “Why is the universe indifferent to me?” presupposes a solid self-standing apart from a solid world. Nagarjuna dissolves this opposition. Once we abandon reified notions of self and reality, the sense of cosmic abandonment weakens. Indifference, on this view, is not a fact of existence but a misunderstanding of how things exist.

Even ancient Shamanic traditions grappled with this question. In Tengriism, the spiritual worldview of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples, the sky god Tengri governs the order of the world without personalised moral concern. Nature is powerful, impartial, and often unforgiving. Yet this indifference does not imply meaninglessness. Instead, it demands harmony, resilience, and respect for natural order. Humans are expected to live in balance with forces that neither love nor hate them. Indifference becomes a teacher rather than a threat.

The ancient Parsis, followers of Zoroastrianism, confronted the same experience of suffering but rejected the idea that the universe is morally neutral. In their worldview, reality is structured by an ethical conflict between Asha (truth, order, and righteousness) and Druj (falsehood and chaos). Suffering exists not because the cosmos is indifferent, but because evil is a genuine force disrupting an unfinished moral world. Crucially, human beings are not abandoned within this struggle. Through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, they actively participate in restoring cosmic order. What appears as indifference is reinterpreted as responsibility.

The Semitic religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, address cosmic indifference by locating meaning beyond the natural order. Nature itself may appear morally opaque, even harsh, but it is not ultimate. In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Job confronts undeserved suffering without offering neat explanations. God does not justify Job’s pain; instead, human expectations of justice are revealed as inadequate to comprehend the vastness of creation. Divine concern exists, but it does not operate according to human logic. In this framework, the silence of the universe becomes a space for faith rather than evidence of abandonment. Christianity intensifies this response by interpreting suffering through the lens of redemption, while Islam emphasises submission to a divine will that transcends human understanding. In all three traditions, meaning is not denied but deferred: removed from the visible workings of the cosmos and grounded instead in a transcendent moral order. The universe may appear indifferent, but it is ultimately governed by a will beyond appearances.

The Bhagavad Gita offers another response that speaks powerfully to modern anxieties. Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna that the world of action is governed by Prakṛti and Karma, impersonal forces that do not bend to individual emotions or expectations. The universe does not care whether actions bring pleasure or pain. Suffering arises when we bind our identity to outcomes. The solution is not to demand meaning from the cosmos, but to act without attachment (Niṣhkaama Karma) and recognise the deeper self that remains untouched by success and failure. Cosmic indifference, here, becomes a condition for spiritual freedom.

The Upanishads go even further by challenging the very notion of individuality that makes indifference distressing. At the deepest level, they teach that Atman (the true self) is identical with Brahman (ultimate reality). If this is so, then the universe cannot be indifferent to the self, because there is no ultimate separation between the two. What appears as neglect or abandonment belongs to ignorance (Avidya), not to reality itself. With realisation comes release from the anxiety of being uncared for.

 

Kashmir Shaiva philosophy offers perhaps the most affirmative vision of all. According to this tradition, reality is Shiva: pure, self-aware consciousness endowed with absolute freedom (Swatantrya). The universe is not an indifferent mechanism but a dynamic self-expression of consciousness, a cosmic play (Leela). Apparent indifference arises when consciousness freely contracts itself and experiences the world from a limited, egoic perspective. From this narrowed view, the universe feels uncaring. From the standpoint of ultimate awareness, nothing lies outside consciousness itself. Indifference is not a property of reality but the consequence of partial vision.

Across cultures and centuries, thinkers converge on a sobering insight: the universe does not care about individuals in the way individuals care about one another. Yet they diverge sharply in their responses. Camus urges revolt, Sartre insists on responsibility, Schopenhauer counsels renunciation, Kierkegaard points to faith, Semitic religions appeal to transcendent moral purpose, Tengrism teaches harmony with the sky, Buddhism dissolves attachment, Nagarjuna dismantles metaphysical assumptions, the Bhagavad Gita teaches Karma and detachment, and Kashmir Shaivism affirms cosmic consciousness.

Perhaps the deepest lesson is this: meaning and compassion are not guaranteed by the structure of the cosmos. They are ethical and spiritual achievements forged in a world that neither promises nor forbids them. The universe may be indifferent, but how we respond to that indifference remains, unmistakably, our own responsibility.

 

( Avtar Mota )

PS

This write -up has been published in my book," The Essays That May Change Your  Beliefs ' 2026 Edition. The book is available at https://notionpress.com/in/read/the-essays-that-may-change-your-beliefs

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.